Korea's energy minister pitches for Romanian nuclear business

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang met with the Romanian Minister of Economy Florin Marian Spataru and Romanian Minister of Energy Virgil-Daniel Popescu at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Friday.

Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang meets with Romanian government officials including Minister of Economy Florin Marian Spataru and Romanian Minister of Energy Virgil-Daniel Popescu at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Friday. [MINISTRY OF TRADE, INDUSTRY AND ENERGY]

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang met with the Romanian Minister of Economy Florin Marian Spataru and Romanian Minister of Energy Virgil-Daniel Popescu at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Friday.

During the meeting, Lee detailed Korea's strengths in the building of nuclear reactors and said that Korean companies are competitive on price when pitching for reactor deals and meet deadlines if they win the contracts.

The meeting comes a day after the Romanian government drafted a law for the building two new reactors at the Cernavoda, the country's only nuclear energy site.

Lee explained changes to the Korea’s energy policies, especially the focus of nuclear energy and the support of Korean nuclear reactor sales abroad.

The Yoon Suk-yeol government, which reversed the nuclear phase-out policy of his predecessor, has been pitching aggressively for nuclear power deals in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Korea companies have already won a contract for the building of a turbine island for the El Dabaa nuclear plant in Egypt.

On Dec. 4, state-owned Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) was named as the only bidder prequalified for the construction of a tritium removal facility at Cernavoda 1 and 2. Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen.

In August last year, KHNP and Iljin Electric won a 7-trillion-euro contract to supply start-up transformers for the Cernavoda nuclear power plant.

A Romanian delegation headed by the Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca is on a four-day visit to Seoul.

During the meeting between Ciuca and the Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Wednesday, the two sides agreed to increase cooperation in nuclear energy, defense and defense equipment sales.

Korea has requested Romania's support of Busan's bid to host the World Expo in 2030.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]